The Prime Invasion force was moving in sub-light speed towards the hyperspace lanes that lead into the Tarkon System. Goliath the mighty Flagship of the Regime's Armada was ahead of the Battle Group. The Omega class Advanced Dreadnought was one of most sophisticated ships of the line in the fleet. There were only six more ships of her class built; Typhoon was captured by the Rebels eleven months ago, Chimera, Inferno and Intrepid are a part of this Battle Group. Lightning and Serpent's Tooth are held in reserve with the Super Carrier Apocalypse.

Goliath's' long sleek hull was shining with a deadly glare in the midst of space. She was bigger, faster and more maneuverable than her predecessors were. Her gun batteries sparkled with deadly light and the targeting lasers were ready to lock on their targets. Her forward cargo bay contained another deadly surprise. First time in two hundred years the Quantum Space and Time Disrupter was assembled and ready for action. The weapon has not been battle tested yet but Volk VI was staking his and everyone else's life on it.

The Armada consisted out of Super Carrier Fury, three Nebula class Carriers, four Advanced Destroyers, sixty Dreadnoughts, hundred Destroyers, hundred and twenty Cruisers, eighty Frigates, hundred Assault Corvettes, over seven thousand fighters and bombers, three hundred Transports and thirty Troop Carriers filled with Marines. This was the biggest number of ships gathered in one place ever since Volk I defeated the League of InterStellar States at the battle of the Doomed Star.

The combined ILP and Zill Fleets only had around three hundred Capital ships. Most of which were converted from luxury liners, barges, transports and other large ships. The Rebels had only five thousand fighters, a large number of them were old models not used in service today or small freighters and personal shuttles armed with modern weapons.

Aboard the Goliath Volk VI paced on the bridge. "Where is the Grand Marshal and Lord of Admiralty," he asked. "I don't know My Lord," answered the Capitan. "They disappeared five hours ago en route from the Reserve Force. I tried to contact the Reserve Force but received no answer." "They will pay for their folly very dearly," said Volk VI while reviewing the readiness of the fleet on a computer at the Tactical station where he stopped pacing for a moment.

---

At the same time several light years away the Reserve Fleet powered up its engines and jumped into hyperspace, not to their staging area but towards the 'Forgotten Lands'. It would take some time to reach the automated space stations that guard the Quantum Front from invaders and people trying to escape the Cluster. The Super Carrier Apocalypse was the Flagship of this small Armada. Lord of Admiralty and the Grand Marshal both set up their headquarters on that ship.

It was the biggest ship in the whole Regime's Fleet, over two kilometers long and a half-kilometer wide. Its massive engines could go as fast as 800-900 times the speed of light in hyperspace. In her hangars she held over three hundred fighters and bombers. Her immense array of weapons could hold several Dreadnoughts at bay for some time. Only the best and the brightest serve aboard this Super Carrier and all of the command staff was hand picked by the Lord of Admiralty. At this moment they were having a briefing in the Tactical Room.

"Gentlemen you all know we will arrive at these coordinates on the screen three days from now." Lord of Admiralty started the briefing when everyone was assembled. He pointed at the set of coordinates that have appeared on the large computer screen imbedded into the wall of the room. "There we will deactivate several space stations guarding the frontier and the fleet will pass with out any trouble. After that we will make final preparations and jump across the Quantum Front. We must gather enough momentum to be able to cross the Front. After that we start rigging our ships to abide with the laws of Nature beyond the Front. And those of you who are curious about the battle, I sent an automated stealth probe to record everything that transpires there. We will have complete accounts of the battle when we come out of hyperspace in 'Forgotten Grounds'. Are there any questions?" All officers shook their heads indicating negative. "Dismissed then, go do your jobs." Slowly the command staff left the War Room leaving David Jensen and Mark Datist alone. "Well, we are actually ready, my friend," said the Grand Marshal. "Yes we are. Everything will be fine. Now go check on your troops one more time. After that we get three days of rest before the last jump," said Lord of Admiralty.

The Regime's Prime Invasion Force has reached the lanes that lead into the Tarkon system. "Lorn is the fleet ready to jump?" Asked Volk VI. "Yes, My Lord," answered the Grand Admiral. "Admiral I want you to contact 234th, 159th and 71st Battle Group and tell them to join us immediately. Send out system wide Search and Capture warrants for the Mark and David, ten Million Credits for each, Dead or Alive." "It will be done My Lord," said the Grand Admiral and carried out his orders. After a minute he said: "The Fleet is waiting for your command." "Well don't just stand there, give the signal," said The Lord of the Thousand Suns. The Admiral spoke into the COM system. "All ships hear this, Operation "Flame Strike" is a go. Jump in T minus 5 seconds." Five seconds later the fleet jumped into hyperspace, disappearing into another dimension where faster than light travel was possible.

---

The ILP and Zill Fleets were waiting for the Regime's ships when they jumped back from hyperspace. In a split second, the dark and vast space erupted in hundreds of different deadly colors as the Rebel Fleet open fire with all of their guns blazing. Dark red Plasma beams, white Neutron blasts and Orange-Yellow laser beams cut through the hulls of forward Heavy Cruisers before they could raise their shields. In a matter of seconds the Regime lost 10% of their Capital ships. Rebel bombers launched their barrage of antimatter torpedoes and fusion hypermissiles that punched through the hulls and ripped many ships apart. The Regime's ships tried to regroup and launch their fighters as a screen against incoming swarm of Rebel fighters. The Regime's Advanced Dreadnoughts opened fire with all guns pushing the ILP and Zill ships a little back. Nevertheless the Rebel Armada continued attacking relentlessly, knowing if they pause for a second the vastly superior enemy will regroup and destroy them. The Rebel converted transports used their speed and smaller size to run circles around the larger Capital ships, but it did not take more than two hits from Capital ships weapons to destroy these transports. The Rebels had several derelict garbage barges filled with explosives and under auto-pilot ram the several Dreadnoughts and a Carrier destroying them completely. The ILP and the Zill have used every trick of space warfare to gain the upper hand and for a short while they were succeeding.

The battle continued for ten more minutes when the 234th, 159th, and 71st Battle Groups jumped into the fray. A portion of Zill ships started attacking Regime's reinforcements. The ILP Super Carrier Freedom sent out its reserve fighter and bomber squadrons to fight the new threat. Liberty tried desperately to get to Goliath, to stop the Quantum Space and Time Disrupter from being made active. "Damn it, can't we get any closer?!" Screamed the Captain as her bridge shook again after another volley of hypermissiles exploded against the shields. "No Captain, there is to many enemy ships in the way. We don't have a clear line of sight, antimatter torpedoes do not have a Image Recognition guiding system like the hypermissiles do," said Commander Stonok. "Ram them if you have to, but we need get through," the Captain continued as the bridge shook again as an ILP Destroyer exploded of the port bow. Everywhere you could see brilliant flashes of light, weapons firing, ships exploding or slowly burning in space. A damaged ILP heavy fighter got pass the shields of a Regime's Dreadnought and rammed the ship. The fighter exploded near the Engineering section causing the fusion reactor to crash and cause a chain reaction that ripped the ship apart a minute later. The ILP fighters were fairing reasonably well against the better-trained and equipped Regime pilots but it was not enough. Even after taking tremendous losses the Regime Armada still outnumbered the Rebel Fleet.

Aboard the Goliath Volk VI ordered the Quantum Space and Time Disrupter to fire. A low hum ran through the ship as the weapon slowly gathered the power it needed. "Admiral target the Rebel Advanced Dreadnought and tell me when we are ready to fire. I want to press the firing button myself," said Volk VI. "Yes, My Lord," said Grand Admiral Lorn and signaled the ships in front of Goliath to give a clear shot Liberty. "You may fire when ready, Sir."

Volk VI pressed the blinking button on the captain's chair where he was sitting. The hum intensified and a soft blue light surrounded the ship. In the forward hangar bay a power coupling couldn't handle the amount of power channeled through the weapon. It sent an Electro-magnetic feed back into the weapon itself causing it to malfunction and creating a Quantum singularity centered inside the ship. As the gravimetric forces increased they began to tear the ship apart, sucking it piece by piece into the miniature black hole. On the bridge Volk VI tried to find out what was happening but before he could do that the ship exploded sealing the Quantum singularity preventing the black hole to grow in size and in strength.

For several minutes all ships hung motionlessly in space trying to comprehend what has happened. Everyone stared at the place where the Goliath exploded. There was nothing left from the ship. Not even debry. All of a sudden a hundred ships appeared several parsecs behind the Regime Armada. These ships were nothing like ever seen before. They looked like giant Astonisian spiders, blue-green color shining in the darkness of space. Their long sleek appendages glowed with eerie red light. The ships were bigger than anything in the Regime's and Rebel Fleets. Their hull marking resembled those of the Ellotian Holy Alliance, but Ellotians never had any ships bigger a Heavy Cruiser.

"Ensign what are the readings on those ships?" Asked Captain Kolt. "Our sensors register the as Biological, Captain," he mumbled a minute later. "What? No one has the technology to build such ships," said Commander Stonok. "Check our sensors for any malfunction." "I already did, Sir. Every thing check out," the ensign replied. The view screen flared to life and a tall blue skinned Ellotian dressed in golden robes started talking. "I am Tz'ir the new leader of the Ellotian Holy Union of the Sky. The Council of Nine is no more, the Old ways have been left behind as our passive view towards life. We are here on the behalf of our Sky Fathers who gave us these mighty ships to punish Volk VI for his crimes against the Ellotian People."

In the background you could see sophisticated systems based on organic technology, where the ship would mold to accommodate its crew and perform various tasks. The were several other Ellotians on the bridge physically interfaced with the ship. "Since Volk VI has paid for his folly." Tz'ir continued. "We will destroy his fleet as an example that know one shall ever threaten us or destroy our Most Holy Forest again. The ILP and Zill ships are advised to stay out of our way or suffer the same fate."

The image of Tz'ir was replaced by the view of Ellotian fleet moving towards the remaining Regime's ships. They still were a significant force even after loosing 25% of their Capital ships in the forty minutes of battle. The Ellotian Armada continued to close in, the Regime's ships began to fire at the advancing doom, but with little effect. Their weapons bounced of harmlessly from the Organic ships' hulls. Strange red beams reached out from the tentacles of the Ellotain spider like ships and sliced through the ships' hulls like they weren't even there. Several of the Regime's ships tried to make a run for it but they were intercepted and destroyed at once. The Ellotians were ignoring the pleas for mercy as they continued to systematically obliterate the Regime's Fleet.

It was all over in the matter of minutes. No Regime ship, transport, fighter or bomber was left in one piece, they were all destroyed. The view screen flared showing Tz'ir again. "You have all witnessed our might. Now hear this: Our Star System is of limits to all non-Ellotian Species. Anyone trying to violate our InterStellar borders will be destroyed. All Ellotians are asked to come back to their home world. If not they will remain outcast forever. You have one month to come back. After that our borders will close one and for all. All non-Ellotians will be expelled from our system in one months' time. Anyone refusing to leave will be either forced out or executed. This decree is final, do not bother us again."

With that 'cheerful' note the screen switched back to showing the Ellotian Armada. It was moving away from the Rebel Fleet towards the lanes leading out of this system. Captain Tarra Kolt stood stunned aboard Liberty. Neither she nor the rest of the crew could believe what was happening. All were sitting or standing around the bridge looking shell-shocked. The unbelievable has happened they have won kind off in one dissuasive battle. Whatever happened next would decide the fate of the ILP and its allies.

The comm was beeping for thirty seconds until a young ensign broke out of his momentary trance and answered the call. "Captain," he said nervously. "The ILP Council wants to talk to you privately." "Patch it through to my Ready Room," said the Captain and walked quickly to her Ready Room. The room was large, it had a long desk containing a computer interface, with chairs all around it. The wall closest to the desk contained a large screen where navigation charts or battle plans were usually displayed. The command staff of Advanced Dreadnought Liberty met there regularly for briefings. The Ready Room also had a small porthole from where you could see stars slowly being passed by the ship. The Captain sat down in her chair in front of the computer interface and activated it. The computer needed a retinal scan from the user to be activated. After the scan was over the screen turned on showing Senior Councilman Darius Traxon the Head of the ILP. "Hello Tarra," he said. "We all saw what has happened. Time is crucial and we must act immediately. You are to take as many ships as you can and proceed to Volk-Tron Prime. You must capture it with little blood shed as possible. Here are the codes to shut off the Orbital Defense Platforms." A string of numbers ran through the screen. "You are to proceed immediately at top speed, even if you have to leave your escorts behind. We have broadcasted the battle through out the cluster and issued a general surrender order. The Regime's forces think those orders came from Lord of Admiralty and the Grand Marshal. They have no way off confirming that because those two are planning to leave this Cluster as we speak. Our spies are keeping tabs on them and will follow them wherever they'll go. Your main task is to capture the Main AI, our Computer Techs will be arriving shortly after you have secured the planet. We are sending troops to Volk-Tron Prime as we speak. Time is of the essence. Any questions?" "No Councilman," answered the Captain. "Good luck then, and Gods speed to you and your crew." The screen turned itself off and the computer spoke. "Is there any thing else Captain?"

"Connect me with all ships." "Done," came a reply few seconds later. "All ships hear this. We are ordered to proceed to Volk-Tron Prime at maximum speed. The Planet must be secure before the Regime's forces are able to recover. The Zill Force is welcome to join us. We will need all the help we can get. Dragon's Head and Nova will stay behind." The Captain turned off the computer and walked back to the bridge. "Captain, most of the Zill ships will come with us," said the Commander when the Captain came back to the bridge. "Good," said the Captain and activated the ship-to-ship com system. "All ships here are to coordinates, prepare to jump at top speed to Volk-Tron Prime on my mark," she waited several seconds before giving the order. "Mark." The Star-Drive engines came to life and Liberty jumped into hyperspace, other ships followed her right away, towards Volk-Tron Prime.

---

Several million kilometers away the stealth probe was recording and transmitting all it saw back to the Mark Datist's small fleet. The fleet was in hyperspace, on its way to the Quantum Front. The battle and its aftermath would only reach them when the fleet would reach their destination and come out from hyperspace.

---

Two days later aboard the Super Carrier Apocalypse Lord of Admiralty was in his stateroom watching the transmissions received by the probe. At the same time he was reviewing the preparations needed to make the jump across the Quantum Front on a different computer screen. "Are all ships secure?" Asked Mark Datist. "Yes sir," answered Captain Dran through the com. "All ships are secure and awaiting your orders."

Lord of Admiralty was watching the last minutes of the battle, where the Regime's Armada was demolished by the Ellotian Organic ships. The technology was unbelievable and way beyond the level of technology currently available. With this new development and the defeat of the Regime, leaving the Cluster seemed like a good idea. Lord of Admiralty knew that ILP would not allow him to keep his position or his fleet even if he did feed them information for the last several months. He did not spend most of his life in the Navy trying to clime the chain of command and finally succeeding in attaining the highest position possible, only to have it take away by the new Revolutionary government. His scouts from ONI have found a small system with several habitable worlds. One planet was inhabited by a primitive culture that hasn't developed space flight. The leveling effects were not seriuos so colonization of the system would not be too difficult. The Grand Admiral looked with sorrow at the stars outside his porthole. There was no turning back now, the Fleet was waiting for the final order to take them over the Quantum Front. There was nothing left for the people under his command here, most of the people in the Fleet had little or no family left back home, they have no ties to hold them back and they would miss little when they left it all behind. "We will be back," he thought. "Not soon, but some day." He keyed in his personal access code into the computer that linked him to all his ships.

"My Comrades, its our time to jump into the great unknown. What ever we face on the other side will change our lives forever. We must be strong and united to face the upcoming perils. This will be our finest hour and we will come through, Good Luck and Gods Speed."

Slowly the Super Carrier Apocalypse jumped towards the ever-shifting Quantum Front, gathering enough momentum to carry her across the Front. The rest of the Fleet followed their Flagship a second later.

---

Three days later the ILP ships have managed to capture Volk-Tron Prime after thirty-five hours of fighting with the Regime's ships. They inflicted a lot of damage on the Regime's Fleet defending Volk-Tron Prime. The Zill Commandos managed to capture and disable the central AI computer before the Regime's Forces knew they were under attack. With the Defense Grid down, the Rebel Troops were able to land and capture the Capital City, Praxiat. Most of the Regime's soldiers surrendered without resistance after they heard that Volk VI was dead. Only the orbiting ships kept on fighting until most of them were either destroyed or crippled.

Liberty was orbiting Volk-Tron Prime keeping a silent vigil over the planet. Her Captain Tara Kolt was over viewing the final take over of the planet by ILP ground troops. 95% of the planet was under ILP control, there were still some pockets of the resistance near the Capital, but for the most part the people were happy to see tyranny finally come to an end. "In few days the ILP Council will announce the fall of the Regime and the start of the new Era of Peace and Prosperity," thought Captain Kolt. "This is a major turning point for every person in the Cluster. With the fall of Tyranny, the people of the Cluster can breath easily once more, after two hundred years of oppression. The Future looks bright and clear, no more wars and no more deaths, this will be something looking forward to." The Captain turned her attention back to the main view screen where the Ground Forces finally captured the last resisting enemy forces. Peace at last settled over Volk-Tron Prime.

THE END.

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